DWD's Reviews

Slow start, sizzling end Published by HarperCollins in 2006 384 pages First and foremost - Boo to the publishers of The Pale Horseman for not clearly labeling that this paperback book is part of a trilogy. Sure, it's clear if you carefully look at the extremely long list of Cornwell's books inside the front cover, but I was holding my 15 month old while using my Christmas gift card and I really did not have the luxury of perusing through every page in the book store! On to the book - Despite not having read the first book, Cornwell does an admirable job of catching the reader up to where the action is in book two. However, he then goes meandering a bit. The story sort of sidles along until the Danes invade again and then it's a real action story. Cornwell's battle descriptions are top-notch. Perhaps only topped by Pressfield's Gates of Fire - but not by much. The Pale Horseman is saddled with one of the most worthless maps I've ever see...

Fascinating Originally published in 2004 by Pavilion Books. 144 pages. Indianapolis Then and Now is part of a series that looks at cities all over the country. While this book would most likely be of limited interest to non-Hoosiers, I found this book to be riveting. I've lived in Indy for almost all of my adult life and I often visited the city as a child. The format of the book is side by side photos of an Indianapolis address in the past (from 60 - 150 years ago) and a current photo of the same building. Sometimes the same buildings and landmarks are still in places, other times there are whole new buildings and landscapes. Part of Indy's canal walk (photo by DWD) Most striking are the changes in the area around Indy's much lauded canal walk, White River State Park and IUPUI. I was also surprised that the Indianapolis Star building is actually quite old - two beautiful buildings with character were merged into one building and then covered with one o...

. Published by NAL Hardcover in 2005 320 pages An enjoyable memoir of  Dick Winters ' life, mostly focusing on his time in the military. Dick Winters is one of the main focuses of the splendid HBO biographical mini-series Band of Brothers and the Stephen Ambrose book by the same name. Throughout, Winters gives open and honest assessments of fellow officers and soldiers, and training levels of replacements soldiers and Korean War soldiers. Dick Winters (1918-2011) I have not yet read Stephen Ambrose's book B and of Brothers, but am a giant fan of the mini-series. Dick Winters re-tells this story with the focus on his own experiences. The Nixon-Winters and Stobel-Winters relationships are explored a bit more in-depth than are presented in the TV program. The pacing of the non-military aspects of his life is generally very good, with the exception of one page early that goes into too much detail about his family background. This reflects the fact that the ...

Okay, but a bit disappointing Published in 1979 by National Geographic So, why am I disappointed? I was hoping for an theme-based work that looked at different mysterious objects, behaviors and cultures of the ancient world across the world and made comparisons and connections between them. Instead, Mysteries of the Ancient World is a series of unrelated articles that have the look and feel of the National Geographic style. Don't get me wrong - I like the National Geographic style but the book as a whole lacks flow and feels more like a copy of the magazine than a special book. It is not an integrated work and leaves out plenty of big mysteries (Great Zimbabwe, Nazca Lines, Petra, the Olmecs) in favor of smaller mysteries such as the Etruscans and Catal Huyuk. Topics include: -The Etruscans -Ice age cave paintings -Stonehenge and related Megaliths -Minoan civilization -Mycenaean civilization -Catal Huyuk and Jericho -Easter Island and the South Pacifi...

A beautiful book. Recommended for map lovers and hard-core Civil War buffs. Published by Rutledge Hill Press (Thomas Nelson) in 2004. 48 pages   Thomas Nelson's Rutledge Hill Press publishing division has created a lovely book that tells a simple narrative of the Civil War focusing on the importance of maps in the war and the men who made them. The cover of the book is designed to look like a leather bound canvas portfolio, much like a mapmaker's sketchbook of the era. The text of the book is beautifully printed on high quality paper. I appreciated the fact that the publishers included lots of pictures of everyday soldiers - not just the same old posed shots of the generals and politicians. Lincoln and McClellan after Antietam There are 32 removable maps included as well. The removable maps are stored in between the pages. The publisher has printed on only one side of the thick paper pages and then glued the blank sides together on the edges to make an e...

Pleasant musings from the mind of Wolfsie Published in 2001 by Guilde Press of Indiana. 189 pages. Dick Wolfsie is a local TV morning show personality in Indianapolis. He specializes in finding the offbeat and showing it to everyone with a camera and an interview. He used to share this responsibility with his lovable dog Barney, a runaway beagle that he found one day. Unfortunately, Barney is no longer with us. Dick Wolfsie's writings are mostly light-hearted humourous musings about life. Many are re-prints from a column he writes. While I rarely laughed out loud at his commentary, I did find it amusing and enjoyed myself. Recomended for that middle-aged dad that's hard to buy for. I rate this book 4 out of 5 stars. Reviewed on January 17, 2008. This book can be found on Amazon.com here: Life in a Nutshell . <br /> <img src="http://wms.assoc-amazon.com/20070822/US/img/noscript.gif?tag=dwsre-20" alt="" /><br />

Wolfsie's lighthearted, witty style is perfect for this topic Published in 2003 by Globe Pequot 306 pages Indianapolis TV personality Dick Wolfsie is well-known in Central Indiana for finding fun, interesting human-interest segments for his station's morning show. Wolfsie continues this theme by digging up oddities from all over the Hoosier state that would interest any traveler who wants to stray from the beaten path. Wolfsie provides a description of the curiosity, organized by region, and alphabetized by the town in which it is located. The book covers five regions and includes a map of that region that labels every town mentioned in that section of the book, no matter how small the town. Examples include the RV museum in Elkhart, a jar museum in Muncie and the site of John Dillinger's first official crime in Mooresville. Wolfsie includes addresses, phone numbers, websites, e-mail addresses, and contact names (some are only available through appointme...

WOW! Published in 2008 by Brilliance Audio Read by James Daniels Duration: 9 hours, 33 minutes. Unabridged. I must be out of the loop - I am a Crais fan but have never seen this book before nor was I aware that it had been made into movie until I wrote this review. Nevertheless, despite my previous ignorance I found Hostage to be thoroughly enjoyable. More than that, I found it to be riveting, fascinating and I enjoyed Crais's ability to turn a cops and robber story into something more. James Daniels's brilliant narration is perfect for this text - every character has his own distinct voice. Daniels puts the right edge in his voice, be it the menacing quality of some of the characters or the panicky threats of others as they scream at the hostage negotiators. This is an audiobook done right! The plot revolves around 3 guys who rob a small town gas station and then while attempting to flee run into a gated community and take a family hostage inside their own h...

Strong, flawed, important work with a valuable, urgent message Published in 2007 by Walker and Company 288 pages.   I had to pick up this book as soon as I stumbled upon it. One of the themes in my history classes is the expansion of freedom in the West following the same general timeline that Grayling follows. Who doesn't like to have his own thoughts echoed by a major English philosopher? Strengths: I do recommend this book - it is a readable, admirable attempt at covering a vast, important topic. Grayling covers John Locke especially well (although he disposes with the views of Hobbes rather quickly by asserting that people are not necessarily nasty and brutal with one another). Grayling's most important message is quite simple: the rights that we have are the product of a lot of time and a lot of struggles and they should be cherished and well-guarded. When the reader has completed this book it should be quite clear that this inheritance is too valuab...

An important piece of "comic book journalism" Published in 2007 by Fantagraphics books. 320 pages . Joe Sacco headed off to to the Palestinian refugee camps with a few bucks in his pocket, a sketchpad, a little training in how to draw comic books, a rarely used camera (film was too expensive) and a curious mind. Sacco interviewed Palestinians and asked them about all sorts of aspects of their lives: jobs, the intifada, women's rights, Land for Peace, and much more. Sacco turned those interviews into this graphic novel (although Sacco does not like that term much - instead he prefers "comic book journalist"). Joe Sacco (self-portrait) There is no traditional narrative to Palestine: The Special Edition . Sacco does not turn these interviews into a large overarching history of the Palestinian people. Instead, it is like reading a series of illustrated interviews. This gives the reader the feeling that he or she is there sitting right there wit...

Published by MacMillan Audio Narrated by C.J. Critt Duration: about 8 hours. Ten Big Ones features Stephanie Plum and Lula going up against 1) a soccer mom who raids potato chip trucks and 2) a psychopathic street gang member. Stephanie's endless on-again-off-again relationship with Morelli continues its strange path - but the twists and turns seem forced this time. Too bad, I was such an enthusiastic supporter of the early books in the series - but the newer ones just don't have it. In fact, the whole franchise seems tired. Lula and Stephanie's banter. Stephanie's sister and her fiance. Grandma. Morelli. Ranger. It has a warmed over feeling. I found Stephanie's total lack of awareness of street gangs (and their propensity to violence) in her hometown is silly, especially considering that she admits to having caught some of these gang members in the past. She didn't notice the graffiti? The outfits? Doesn't she listen to the news? M...

"Glacial Period" comes up short despite self-proclaimed greatness. Published in 2007 by NBM Publishing. 80 pages. So, what do you get when a hotshot graphic novelist teams up with the Louvre to showcase their works of art with a twist? Well, you get a short sci-fi book that has a solid start but a contrived, odd end. In short, this is a half-hour read for most and the story was not all that great. It wasn't bad, but it just doesn't live up the self-promotional hype that fills the inside flaps of the front and back covers - such as "Here are the most intelligent comics the world has to offer" and claims that the other is a "mad genius" and his artwork is "breathtaking." Not really. This one is too sketchy (not the art style, the plot) to be considered great by this reader. I rate this graphic novel 2 stars out of 5. This graphic novel can be found on Amazon.com here: Glacial Period .  Reviewed on February 7, 2008. ...

An Important Book Published in 2007 by University of California Press. 274 pages. So, who is surprised to hear that there are still slaves in this modern world in such places as India, Burma, Brazil, Haiti, Maryland and San Diego? What - Maryland? San Diego? Sadly, yes. Approximately 27 million of them around the world. Ending Slavery is a well-researched, easy-to-read, hopeful book that details several individual examples of slavery, how slaves are captured nowadays, the jobs they typically do, what to look for, how to combat slavery, and long-term solutions. It is occasionally repetitive, but it will definitely make you think. Pet peeve: Bales includes lots of endnotes with commentary. This necessitated my having to flip back and forth from the text to endnotes. Please authors - if you are going to make comments in your endnotes, make them footnotes! I rate this book 4 stars out of 5. This book can be found on Amazon.com here: Ending Slavery: How We Free Tod...

A great collection, a terrific exhibition Published in 2002 by Bullfinch. 160 pages I caught this exhibition at the Indiana State Museum while it was on a nationwide tour. It was so interesting that I took full advantage of my museum membership and came back and saw it several times while it was here in Indianapolis. I picked up the book Chicano Visions as the exhibit was winding down but only recently read the well-written introductory essays that make up the first 35 pages or so of the book. Cheech Marin has created a high-quality full color text of this travelling show which is mostly comprised of pieces from his own personal collection. Marin's taste tends to run towards political art, but there is plenty that speaks of life for artists who are both Chicano and American, as the exhibition title (also the book title) imply. Artists that grabbed my attention include: Carlos Almaraz - his car crash paintings were gigantic attention getters in the gallaries. His...

I think I've read this one before... Published in 2008 by Putnam 304 pages I am a gigantic fan of Robert B. Parker. I've read all of the Spenser books, the Stone books and the Randall books. And I'm slowly "re-reading" the Spenser books as audiobooks. It is not lightly that I give Stranger in Paradise two stars. The Stone novels were always different than the Spenser / Sunny Randall novels. Spenser and Sunny always have that buddy network to fall back on (especially Hawk and Spike, respectively) Jesse has always been alone, except for his on-again off-again ex-wife, who actually makes his sense of being alone even stronger. The whole formula for Jesse Stone is thrown out. Instead, we have a re-make of Spenser's April Kyle and Paul Giacomin stories told under Jesse Stone this time around with a girl named Amber. Stone is not a lone, principled character this time. Instead, Parker reverts back to a mainstay of the formula he uses in the Sp...

The book that turned into a phenomenon. Published 2007 by Scholastic. 533 pages. Text and illustrations by Brian Selznick The Invention of Hugo Cabret was a gift to my daughter by her great aunt way back when she was in 3rd grade. She was at a critical time when some of her friends were losing interest in books (how sad to throw away such a powerful thing as reading for pleasure) and her great aunt stepped in in a big way with this book. The sheer magnitude of the thing made her eyes open wide and she looked at her great aunt dubiously as if to say, "Can I read anything this big ?" Of course, she read it - that night. And, she got up again and read it again at 4 o'clock in the morning. She was so thrilled that she could read something with this much heft that she has never shrunk from another book again. And, she has read it at least once a year (if not more) since then. So, because of my daughter I loved this book even before I read it. But, what did I thin...

Blaze is Stephen King's twist on Steinbeck's "Of Mice and Men." Hardcover edition - published June 2007 by Scribner. 285 pages. Stephen King and DWD's Reviews have had an "on again off again" relationship. 25 years ago I read everything the man wrote and very much enjoyed it. It is one of my favorite books. But somewhere around Insomnia I got very tired of the Stephen King train and I got off for about 15 years. I picked up Cell at the library and I enjoyed it. Since then, I've done a little more Stephen King reading (and audiobooks) but not a lot. I've missed a lot of his books and will slowly work my way through many of them. I always enjoyed his Bachman books - Thinner and The Running Man have stayed with me for decades (especially The Running Man - King predicted reality television even better than he would have imagined way back when) so I picked this one up at a local bookstore and decided to give King another whirl. Stephen...

A Great Bible Study Published 2001 by Zondervan 220 pages. 10 chapters with a Preface. John Ortberg does not specialize in deep, seminary-level Bible studies. He is perfectly able to operate at that level, I am sure, but that is not the way to reach the common man or woman and this is a Bible study aimed at the regular church-going Christian that feels like he or she should be doing more (whatever that may be) and trusting in God or help in doing whatever that "more" is. The inspiration for the book comes from the story of Jesus walking on water and Peter being so inspired by the sight of it that he leaps out of the boat to join Jesus...for a few steps, anyway. Jesus walking on water from the  Codex Egberti (10th century) For those that are concerned about this being a book about works-righteousness, Ortberg is not teaching that. He is teaching that God has called you to work in his Kingdom and Christians need to take a risk and step out in faith to do whatever it...

More of the same from Von Däniken, but it is still interesting and entertaining. Read by William Dufris Duration: 7.5 hours Published in October of 2011 by Tantor Audio Unabridged. Erich Von Däniken’s bestselling 1968 book Chariots of the Gods? helped to popularize what is now known as the “ancient astronaut” theory. This theory was featured in the 1970s NBC documentary In Search Of Ancient Astronauts and has even made it to Hollywood with the X-Files and the latest installment of the Indiana Jones movies. In short, the theory is that humanity, thousands of years ago, was visited by aliens who built gigantic structures such as the pyramids and Stonehenge and were mistaken for gods by our ancestors. They are the inspiration behind much of the ancient mythology around the world and the fantastic beasts included in many of those myths are actually the result of genetic experimentation. In Odyssey of the Gods Von Däniken looks at three tales of ancient Greece and applies...

Although it is a collaboration, it reads remarkably like a typical Crichton novel Published 2011 by Harper Audio Read by John Bedford Lloyd Duration: 14 hours Unabridged. Michael Crichton died in 2008 and left Micro as an unfinished manuscript. I have no idea how much of this book is actually Crichton's and how much belongs to Richard Preston . To me it felt like a typical Crichton novel. A typical Crichton novel for me is a mixed bag. It has grand themes - truly big, big ideas with foundations in real science. Grand themes about the dangers of too much innovation without enough ethical considerations, lots of Gee Whiz stuff (think of the movie Jurassic Park where the paleontologists are mesmerized when they first see the dinosaurs) and laughable plot lines with sketch characters (the worst for me was State of Fear in which the big menacing bad guys were wedging themselves into Toyota Priuses as they stalked their opponents - yes, the Prius, the ultimate pursuit car!)...